Considerations on COM(2021)48 - EU position in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the adoption of amendments to the Convention on International Civil Aviation - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2021)48 - EU position in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the adoption of amendments to the Convention ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2021)48  |
| date | February 5, 2021 |
(2) The Member States are Contracting States to the Chicago Convention and members of the ICAO, while the Union has observer status in certain ICAO bodies. There are seven Member States represented in the ICAO Council.
(3) Pursuant to Article 54 of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO Council may adopt international Standards and Recommended Practices (‘SARPs’), and designate them as Annexes to the Chicago Convention.
(4) The ICAO Council, at its 222nd session, is to adopt Amendment 177 - Personnel Licensing to Annex 1, Amendment 47 to Annex 2 - Rules of the Air, Amendment 108 to Annex 8 - Airworthiness of Aircraft, Amendment 90 to Annex 10 - Aeronautical Telecommunications, Volume V to the Chicago Convention on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) C2 Link systems and procedures and a new Volume VI to Annex 10.
(5) The main purpose of the amendments proposed is to establish a legal framework for the design, type certification and operation of remotely piloted aircraft operating accross international borders and over the high seas under Instrument Flight Rules. The Union is a strong supporter of the efforts by ICAO to establish this legal framework.
(6) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union's behalf within the ICAO Council as Amendment 177 to Annex 1, Amendment 47 to Annex 2, Amendment 108 to Annex 8, Amendment 90 to Annex 10 Volume V, and the adoption of a new Volume VI to Annex 10 will be binding on the Union and are capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, namely Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 15 , Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 16 , Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 17 , Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 18 , and potentially Commission Regulation (EU) No 452/2014 19 , and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373 20 .
(7) The Union's position during the 222nd session of the ICAO Council or any consequent session with regard to the adoption of the envisaged Amendment 177 to Annex 1, Amendment 47 to Annex 2, Amendment 108 to Annex 8, Amendment 90 to Annex 10 Volume V, and the adoption of a new Volume VI to Annex 10 as outlined in the State Letters AN 7/67.1.1-19/52 and AN 3/5.12-19/53 should be to support these amendments in their entirety. This position should be expressed by the Member States of the Union that are members of the ICAO Council, acting jointly on behalf of the Union.
(8) Once adopted, the Amendments to Annexes 1, 2, 8 and 10 of the Chicago Convention will be binding on all ICAO Member States, including all Member States of the Union, in accordance with and within the limits set out in the Chicago Convention.
(9) Pursuant to Article 38 of the Chicago Convention, any State which finds it impracticable to comply in all respects with any such international standard or procedure, or to bring its own regulations or practices into full accord with any such international standard or procedures or which deems it necessary to adopt regulations or practices differing in any particular respect from those established by an international standard, should give immediate notification to the ICAO of the differences between its own practice and that established by the international standard.
(10) Pursuant to Article 90 of the Chicago Convention, any such Annex or any amendment of an Annex shall become effective within three months after its submission to the ICAO contracting States, or at the end of such longer period of time as the ICAO Council may prescribe, unless in the meantime a majority of contracting ICAO States register their disapproval.
(11) The Union’s position after the adoption of Amendment 177 to Annex 1, Amendment 47 to Annex 2, Amendment 108 to Annex 8, Amendment 90 to Annex 10 Volume V, and the adoption of a new Volume VI to Annex 10 by the ICAO Council, to be announced by the ICAO Secretary General via an ICAO State Letter procedure, should be not to register disapproval and to notify compliance. Where Union legislation would deviate from the newly adopted SARPs after an envisaged date of application of those SARPs, i.e. 28 November 2024, a difference with those particular SARPs should be notified to ICAO. This position should be expressed by all the Member States of the Union.